Strengthening second place before the international break

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto comfortably defeat (38-22) Trops Málaga on matchday 24 of the Men's División de Honor Plata and continue to win every match played so far at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion.

The visitors' first two goals of the match came from Javi García, who converted two penalties earned by centre-back Javier Camas. The first red-and-white leads of +2 (4-2 and 6-4) were driven by Javier Olivares's jump shots and Juani Villarreal's saves. A two-minute suspension for Arnau Fernández in the 12th minute was exploited by the Málaga side to turn the score around (6-7), with goals from their wingers Jesús Arca and Jesús Melgar.

The home side's backcourt shooting led to the first timeout of the match being called by Jesús Escañuela in the 18th minute. The stoppage had no effect, as a new home maximum lead of +3 (12-9) followed. The gap continued to grow after Juanma Cabrera's suspension in the 23rd minute, when the first +4 (14-10) appeared on the scoreboard. Before half-time, the difference increased by a further two goals, making the score 18-12 at the break.

The second half began in the worst possible way for the Valencians, with Antonio Capitán receiving a straight red card in the 33rd minute, from which the Andalusians failed to benefit. A 6-2 spell in the first seven minutes after the restart forced Jesús Escañuela to stop the game again, as he watched any chance of taking points slip away. The tactical switch to attack seven against six did not work and the home side punished them into an empty net, securing a +12 lead (29-17).

The final minutes were merely a formality because of the sizeable advantage at 40-20. Even so, the Comunitat Valenciana side did not take their foot off the accelerator until the end and, in fact, recorded their biggest lead in the final second with the +16 (38-22) that concluded the contest. Sergio Mallo sent Marcos Castañeda, the pivot from the Primera Nacional reserve side, onto the court, and he was able to open his first-team scoring account in an official match with two goals.

With these two additional points, Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto head into the international break with second place in the competition (36 points) further consolidated compared with the start of the round. UBU San Pablo Burgos 2031's 27-21 win over Fundación Agustinos Alicante, whom they overtake in the table, means the red and whites are four points clear, including the head-to-head goal difference between the two sides.

The next match will once again be played at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion, although this time it will be the second single-leg tie in the Copa de S. M. el Rey. The Sagunto side will host REBI Cuenca on Wednesday 25 from 20:00.

MATCH DETAILS:

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto (38): Juani Villarreal (-), Marcos Castañeda (2), Olivares (4), Paco Ruiz (4), Jakob Pelko (1), Dani Martínez (-), Pozzer (4), Arnau Fernández (9), Gonzalo (3), David García (1), Matheus de Novais (2), Serradilla (3), Capitán (3), Zungri (-), Carlos Martín (1), Teixidor (1).

Trops Málaga (22): Jesús Arca (2), Juanma Cabrera (-), Nacho Moya (3), Jorge Villamarín (-), Pol Amores (-), Adrián Portela (2), Javier Camas (3), Javi García (7), Víctor Barderas (1), Jesús Melgar (2), Héctor Florido (-), Sebastián Restrepo (-), Pablo Quintero (1), David Agudo (1).

Referees: Jordi Pinilla Iglesias and Eric Doiras Borras.

Suspensions: Marcos Castañeda, Arnau Fernández, Antonio Capitán, Juanma Cabrera and Víctor Barderas received two-minute suspensions, while Antonio Capitán received a straight red card.

Scores by period: 3-2, 5-4, 8-7, 12-9, 14-11, 18-12 (half-time); 22-14, 25-15, 29-18, 31-20, 35-21 and 38-22 (full-time).

Incidents: Matchday 24 fixture in the Men's División de Honor Plata, played at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion in front of approximately 1,200 spectators. Before kick-off, the Fallera Mayor of the comarca (Ana Martínez) and the godmother of the Targa Cecina from Italy (Gaia Favilli) performed the ceremonial throw-in.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.